American baseball player Jackie Robinson (1919 – 1972) of the Brooklyn Dodgers is signing paperwork, January 3, 1945.
"Jackie Robinson went to the grave with his final request of Major League Baseball unfulfilled. The Los Angeles Dodgers legend died discouraged and frustrated with big league teams because of the way they dragged their feet on hiring black managers and front-office employees. Some opined that black managers hadn’t been hired in the 25 years since Robinson integrated baseball because white players weren’t ready to take orders from a black man and white fans would be exceptionally cruel to them. Others speculated that the crop of black players who would eventually be hired as skippers were learning the ropes as coaches and working the minor leagues. That, of course, is a puzzling explanation, considering Buck O’Neil broke the color barrier for black coaches in 1962 with the Chicago Cubs and in the 10 years after O’Neil did so, nine black men — Gene Baker (Pittsburgh Pirates), Jim Gilliam (Dodgers), Ernie Banks (Cubs), Larry Doby (Montreal Expos), Elston Howard (New York Yankees), Satchel Paige (Atlanta Braves), Luke Easter (Cleveland), Ozzie Virgil (San Francisco Giants) and John Roseboro (Washington Senators, California Angels) — had risen to the coaching ranks by the time Robinson used his silver anniversary to call out MLB on its biggest stage. ..."
The Undefeated
SI: And Then The Barrier Broke: Remembering Jackie Robinson's first 10 days as a big leaguer
SI: The Breakthrough: Why May 1947 was crucial for Jackie Robinson
Crossing the Color Barrier: Jackie Robinson and the Men Who Integrated Major League Baseball
W - Jackie Robinson
W - Baseball color line
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